Chapter Text
ENTER NAME
ZERO
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You were beginning to grow impatient. If you waited any longer, you would be late for school. Could Jay just hurry up? Apparently not. She valued sleep much more than attendance at school. Sometimes you had to wake her up and physically drag her to school yourself. It was annoying, but necessary. The school district insists that it is dangerous to walk to and from school alone, so everybody who walks home has to have a “buddy”. Because of this, you and Jay grew up together. You were next-door neighbors, you both went to the same school. So, obviously, you had to walk with her. It can be such a pain in the neck, though. Jay is disorganized and careless. You’ve gotten used to it though.
But, just because you and Jay had to walk to school together every day, does not mean that you two are best friends. Jay has her friend group, and you.. Well, you’re working on it. Just as you were about to give up and go wake Jay up yourself, she came out her front door. She spotted you, ran over, and took a minute to breathe after running too fast and suddenly.
“Huh, huh..” Jay panted. She looked up at you. “‘Sup.”
You sighed. “ Jay, you nearly made us late for school again.” You reached for her head and attempted to adjust her rat’s nest. “You look like a mess, too..”
Jay smacked your hand away. “Shut uppp! I only had, like, five minutes to get ready, bro.”
You rolled your eyes. “ Wowwww. I couldn’t tell!”
Jay scowled, snatched your wrist, and started walking. You stumbled forward with the sudden movement, taking your hand back and catching up with her speed walking.
Jay sighed. “Lacey started a club for us, but it is borin’ me outta my mind. It’s gotta do with poetry n’ stuff, but, like, I have an F in English. How am I supposed to write some boring poems??” She complained.
“Well, learning to do the poems and stuff could possibly improve your grade in English..” You replied.
Jay rolled her eyes. “I don’ care about that stuff, though, ZERO. My only complaint is the complete boredom. ” Suddenly, her face changed. Oh no. She probably just got a stupid idea..
“Heyyy, what if you join the club? I’ll be entertained, plus apparently we need one more member to count as an official club for the school.” Jay exclaimed.
“Uhhh.. But I don’t know your friends that well.. They are the other club members, right?”
“Psh, duh! But this is a great opportunity to introduce you to ‘em!”
That was true. Jay’s friends, Lacey and Maisie, were in the grade above you, so you didn’t have any classes with them. But it was still a dumb idea, with dumber reasoning. You had no need to meet Jay’s friends, especially if they were as scatterbrained as Jay.
“..Nah.” You said.
Jay elbowed you in the side. Ouch. “Pleaseeeee?? C’mon, man, I’ma be so boredd.. How about this? If you join, I’ll pay for your lunch for a week.”
Actually, that was a pretty nice deal. Free food for a week? A whole week? The school lunches weren’t great, but they were the only filling thing. The food from the vending machines cost more money, anyway.
You thought about it for a second. “.. Fine .”
“ Yesssss! ” Jay looked up at you again. “After school, we’ll be in… uh.. I don’t remember what room number it was, but it’s one of the English classrooms on the second floor. Y’know what, just meet up with me in the foyer and I’ll take you there.”
You nodded, parting ways with Jay to get to class as you arrived at school.
Now for another long day..
“There! That’s the room.” Jay pointed to the door closer to the end of the hall. You could hear voices coming from the room, giggles and gossip.
Jay looked over at you. “Ready for the most boring experience of your life?” She teased, a little grin smeared across her face.
You sighed. “I’m sure it won’t be that boring. And yeah. I’m ready.”
Jay squealed a bit with excitement. She burst open the door. “ Wassuuuuuuuuuup? ” She exclaimed. You hadn’t entered the room yet, unable to see what was going on in there.
You heard what seemed like two voices simultaneously greeting Jay. You couldn’t help but feel a little nervous. You’d never seen Lacey or Maisie before - what if they hate your guts?
Suddenly, Jay yanked you into the room. “I’ve got us a new member!” She exclaimed. You got a good look at her friends.
One had a dark complexion, her hair dyed pink and styled in two low buns. She had yellow star-shaped hair clips, and a pink crossbody bag with another star to match. She had the blazer of her uniform tied around her waist. Her face had lit up at Jay’s news. She seemed carefree, but not in a reckless way like Jay.
The other was pale with dull teal hair in a half-up half-down style. She had hair clips on the pieces of hair framing her face, and her blazer was nowhere to be seen. The ribbon bow around her neck seemed a little loose, and the cuffs on her sleeves were unbuttoned. It looked as if she was either disorganized, or too distracted to notice the subtle messiness of her uniform. She had a puzzled look on her face, giving you a certain confused look.
Then, the teal-haired one smiled. “That’s great, Jay!” She stood up from the seat she was sitting in, lacing her fingers. “Who are they?”
Jay had a big grin plastered on her face. “This is ZERO! They’re the person I walk to school with.” She looked over to you. “This is Lacey,” she said, pointing at the girl with teal hair, “and this is Maisie!” she pointed to the other girl.
Maisie stood by Lacey. “Nice to meetcha, ZERO!” She smiled.
Lacey’s face lit up. “How about we get to know each other with a game?”
Jay groaned. “Laceyyyyy, noooooooo…”
Lacey giggled. “Too bad! But don’t worry, it’ll be a short and simple thing. We’ll just give basic information!”
Jay breathed an annoyed sigh. “ Fineeee. ” You sat on top of a desk, fiddling with a button on your blazer.
“How about you start, ZERO? ‘Cus you’re new!” Lacey said.
“Um. Sure.” You said. “Uh, I’m ZERO, and I’m, uh.. Hungry? I dunno, I’m bad at introductions.”
Maisie’s hand shot up. “What’s your sign!?” She exclaimed.
You raised an eyebrow. “Uh.. What?”
She sighed. “Ok, when’s your birthday?”
Puzzled, you told her your birthday, and she nodded. You didn’t really know what that was about.
“What grade are you in? I don’t think I’ve seen you before..” Lacey asked.
“I’m in the grade below you guys, same as Jay.” You responded.
Lacey smiled. “All right, cool!”
Everybody else introduced themselves, except for Jay since everyone already knew her. Lacey liked animals and music. Maisie liked astrology, astronomy, and reading. That explained the birthday thing from earlier..
Lacey stood from the desk she had been sitting in for the introductions. “Well, how about we get club activities started? We can start writing poems today!”
Maisie nodded, and Jay groaned again. You didn’t really care either way, you were indifferent to poems anyway.
Lacey turned to you. “Oh, yeah! ZERO..”
“Welcome to the literature club!”